Innovative behavior and structural empowerment among the Chinese clinical nurses: the mediating role of decent work perception

BACKGROUND: Clinical nurses play a vital role in healthcare. Their innovative behavior is crucial for improving patient care, advancing the profession, and ensuring the healthcare industry's continued success. Many studies have highlighted the importance of nurse innovative behavior, but the link between their innovative behavior, structural empowerment, and decent work perception remains unclear. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between innovative behavior, structural empowerment, and decent work perception among the Chinese clinical nurses and identify the mediating role of decent work perception. METHODS: A cross-sectional correlational design was employed, and from July 2023 to April 2024, 1,513 clinical nurses were recruited from 8 tertiary grade-A hospitals across three cities in China. Data from the Demographic Characteristics Questionnaire, the Nurse Innovation Behavior Scale, the Conditions of Work Effectiveness Questionnaire-II, and the Decent Work Perception Scale were collected through convenience sampling and analyzed using descriptive statistics, univariate correlation, and process plug-in mediation effect analyses. RESULTS: The total scores of innovative behavior, structural empowerment, and decent work perception were 28.36 ± 6.25, 51.15 ± 12.63, and 42.97 ± 9.25, respectively. Innovative behavior was significantly, moderately and positively correlated with structural empowerment (r = 0.657, p < 0.01) and decent work perception (r = 0.618, p < 0.01); decent work perception played a partial mediating role between innovative behavior and structural empowerment (52.5%). CONCLUSION: The innovative behavior, structural empowerment, and decent work perception among the Chinese clinical nurses were relatively moderate, indicating a need for improvement. Structural empowerment perception can, directly and indirectly, impact innovative behavior through decent work perception among Chinese clinical nurses. Nursing managers should promote innovative behavior of clinical nurses by raising structural empowerment and decent work perception to improve the quality of clinical nursing. Thus, it can be improved by creating a positive empowerment climate for clinical nurses and providing them with the information, resources, support, and opportunities for their jobs and improving their level of structural empowerment and decent work perception.